81-Year-Old Is Lost, But Has No Idea Cops Know Her Condition & Are There To Walk Her Home

by
Marilyn Caylor 1/27/2017

Anyone who reaches their 80's and can still walk on their own two feet definitely has a good thing going for them. 81-year-old Roberta enjoys staying active so every day she takes a walk up and down her long driveway. The grandmother enjoys her little walks, but sometimes she can lose her bearings in the great outdoors.

On a recent Friday morning, the local cops had gotten a call from a panicked woman. 40 minutes later, they knew exactly what to do...

The panicked woman in question was Roberta's daughter. The two of them live together in Charles County, Maryland, which is just outside of the hustle and bustle of Washington, D.C. The surrounding woodlands offer up a bit of peaceful serenity, which is probably one of the reasons why Roberta loves to go on her mini-walks!

Although she is physically active, Roberta is sadly suffering from dementia. When she didn't return from her walk, her concerned daughter immediately phoned the police!

"We often talk about the rewards of police work. On Friday, we captured a moment. Officers responded to a 911 call from a woman who reported her 81-year-old mother missing. It seems her mother left her house to take her daily walk up and down the driveway, but when she didn't return, things got a bit scary because the woman's mother has dementia."

Dementia is always hard for family members to cope with, and the local police department knew they needed to handle this case with lots of kindness and care.

The Charles County Sheriff's Office also knows how critical the first couple of hours are when it comes to finding missing persons. The temperatures in Maryland can quickly drop overnight, and they didn't want the situation to escalate to a recovery mission. So, they sent their best team - and a super cool police K9 doggy - to get the job done in record time!

"Officers P. DeBoe, C. Caywood, B. Morrison, Sgt. C. Black, and Cpl. C. Clevenger and his K9 partner responded to the scene and began a search of the heavily wooded area."

Thankfully, it didn't take the officers very long at all to find Roberta. In fact, only 40 minutes had passed before they found the grandmother wandering along a pretty tree-lined path.

Of course, the team didn't want to frighten Roberta into thinking that something had gone terribly wrong. So they pretended that they were just enjoying a nice walk out in the woods, too.

"At first, she seemed confused at the sudden appearance of police officers on the tree-lined trail, and she asked if the officers were out taking a walk too. They quietly replied 'Yes,' after all, it was a beautiful day."

Roberta was very relieved at their nonchalant response and was happy to walk with them for a bit. Soon she decided to make a secret confession to them - she appeared to be lost and couldn't find her way back home!

Of course, the officers knew exactly what was going on, and gently reassured her.

"'No problem,' said Officer Morrison who then gently took her hand and, along with the other officers walked her back to her house. Along the way, the officers made small talk with the woman, to make her feel at ease."

Once they reached the house, the fun-loving cops asked Roberta what her secret to a long and healthy life was.

"Eat good and stay active."

Great advice! Sometimes we tend to forget that the simplest path in life is probably the best one to follow. However, we also tend to forget how difficult it can be for police officers live a simple life. Sometimes their experiences aren't always pleasant, but going for a nice walk in the woods with grandmother Roberta must have been a fantastic way for this group to spend their day!